My Friend Cayla will soon be arriving at North American retailers. The 18-inch doll, from toy manufacturer Genesis, allows real-time, two-way conversations via speech recognition software that had only been available internationally. [Read more...]

Aurora World Inc. will celebrate Raggedy Ann’s 100th birthday with the release of special edition, 16-inch Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy rag dolls. These new Stars and Stripes dolls each feature a red, white, and blue theme; exclusive 100th year embroidery; and commemorative hangtags on every doll. [Read more...]

A new line of co-branded dolls will combine Madame Alexander with Crayola. Madame Alexander will design and develop new doll collections that allow girls to craft and draw on age appropriate dolls and doll accessories. The DIY products are intended to appeal to toddlers, preschoolers, and young girls. [Read more...]

Gund opens the year by adding more than 50 new products to its babyGund line, including a full range of plush, rattles, huggybuddies, and more based on its monkey character, Nicky Noodle, and its Bubbles the elephant. There will also be animal toys featuring hedgehogs, owls, and colorful dinosaurs, as well as new dolls with super-soft and distinctive rose-swirl fabric. [Read more...]

Madame Alexander will debut a special limited edition Disney’s Frozen Elsa doll at FAO Schwarz in New York City. Designed using the iconic, 21-inch Madame Alexander Cissy doll, the new collectible Elsa features detailed costuming and is decorated with 5,000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals.

She also holds a Swarovski crystal snowflake in her hand, and snowflakes adorn Elsa’s platinum braided hair.

Orders can be placed by calling FAO Schwarz at (212) 644-9400, x3043. Each doll is custom-made for a suggested retail of $5,000.

In the days leading up to Christmas, Toys “R” Us will offer extended shopping hours at stores nationwide. From December 20 through December 22, stores will remain open from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m., while beginning at 6 a.m. on December 23, and continuing through 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Toys “R” Us stores will be open around the clock.

New Products

Jakks Pacific Inc. has secured a licensing agreement with Lafig and Sony Pictures Consumer Products to produce toys and related products based on the Smurfs franchise, including the classic Smurfs brand and the upcoming Smurfs feature film premiering in August 2016. The worldwide master toy agreement includes the rights to produce figures, play sets, plush, [...]

On March 20, Nintendo will launch the Super Mario amiibo—Gold Edition, a gold-colored Mario figure that arrives on the same day as the Mario Party 10 game for the Wii U console. The new gold-colored Mario is compatible with multiple games that support the amiibo line of figures. Mario Party 10 features a new amiibo [...]

Jelly Jam Entertainment has partnered with Kids Preferred to launch The Moodsters, a new line of toys and books designed to teach kids the fundamentals of feelings. The Moodsters consist of five lovable detectives—Coz, Lolly, Snorf, Razzy, and Quigly—who come to the rescue whenever their friends, Zach and Zoey, have a feelings emergency. The stories [...]

The fifth season of TV series The Walking Dead will be accompanied by new The Walking Dead Minimates, from Diamond Select Toys and arriving at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide and toysrus.com in March. The new assortment features characters from the “All Out War” story arc featured in issues No. 115 to 126 of The [...]

Corus Entertainment‘s Nelvana has entered a partnership with Cepia LLC to bring the Zhu Zhu Pets brand back to store shelves, with Nelvana Studio producing a new animated series based upon the property. Nelvana Enterprises will also oversee global merchandising of the brand in conjunction with the distribution of the new series.